Noche de los museos

Wednesday I spent a lot of time at COPA using the internet. I talked to Rachel and Steve for a really long time, which was really nice considering the time differences. I was supposed to be working on my paper, but it all worked out…Then Maria, Alex and I went to Borges class together and almost lost/forgot Alex on the colectivo. She was at the front and Maria and I were at the back. I knew where to get off, but couldn’t see Alex anymore. I had to run to the middle door which was about to close…luckily the driver say me/Alex lunging to get out and re-opened the door. After class, I shocked Bryan by actually having a subte pass. He nearly fell over…usually I don’t have a pass and I waste time by buying one (or Glen spots me a ride). Maria’s cell phone was stolen at a concert over the weekend. There was this series of concerts that were free and a really big deal that I didn’t go to. She went to one and her bag was cut while she was dancing. I saw the bottom of it; it was a leather bag and had two gashes about 4 inches long each in it. When I told my host mom about it later she was like, oh yeah, there was a time when that would happen daily, no big deal. They don’t use a knife, they have rings with blades on them. It happened to us in Brasil. I was just like umm, sure, that’s perfectly normal….not. she told me that the blade can’t cut skin and I refrained from pointing out that leather is pretty damn thick and if a blade can cut through leather that it can sure as hell cut through skin.

Thursday I went to US history and art history and then went to Sierra’s house to study before our American History midterm/final/only grade in this class. The test was pretty much exactly what I wanted/planned on it being, which was fantastic. I think I wrote about 8 full sides of paper in response to three questions. My hand nearly fell off. It was a really interesting test because the Argentines are having their midterm next week (we take different tests because their classes are year-long, so we don’t know everything they do). They were having class and talking and stuff in the same room as us. We were also allowed to talk to each other somewhat during the test. We didn’t talk about the questions…just made comments about how we couldn’t wait to be done writing and stuff. We also had three hours to take the test (which is the duration of a class period). After class, Meagan, Steve and I went to Shannon’s so I could tell her happy birthday (and give her a Kinder Egg, Rachel you better know what these are…they have them in London also) and that I wasn’t going out to dinner with them. Then I got home at like 10ish…and had dinner with my host mom and basically fell over into bed.

Friday I woke up early and worked on my paper for US history and my midterm-thing for Borges class. I also went to the gym and ran 4km. I went to the fish store to buy some stuff for lunch and the woman there was like, “where are you from? Utah? Utah? Utah? I have a cousin’s niece’s friend’s uncle’s brother in Utah. Do you live near there? Do you know them?” I kindly explained that I live near NYC (saying New Jersey means absolutely nothing here) and that’s about a 4 hour plain ride from Utah. I’m pretty sure she said Utah at least 10 times. Then I went to tango class and then came straight home for work on my paper some more. My host mom and I were sitting around the table having tea and bread. She took out the middle of the bread (the soft part) and rolled it in a ball because she doesn’t like that part. She then told me that the poor kids in the campo (field/plains/area outside the city) use this part as an eraser for their schoolwork. So I went to my room, got paper and a pencil and guess what?? It actually sort of works (apparently my pencil was too high in quality…way to go Tufts bookstore!!). Her only comment was, “these are the ways of 3rd world countries.”

Saturday I woke up early again to work on my paper some more. I had the last tango class…really, I’m not that sad. Classes are ok. I actually like most of the COPA people in the class and we have fun, but I’m a rather practical person and I know that I’m never going to dance tango again and I’m ok with that. After tango I went to Plaza Congreso to take some pictures of it. Then I walked to Recoleta to meet Meagan. We went to Steve’s instrumental concert and I saw the big metal flower (not that interesting, supposedly it opens and closes with the sun, I think it might be a machine…). The concert was in Facultad de Derecho (the UBA law school), which is a really nice looking Greek building (with columns and all) from the outside, but very ugly inside. Then Meagan and I went to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Museum) to pick up material about the Noche de los Museos (Night of the Museums). We figured out a “game plan” and walked up through the Recoleta fair, where I got a giant empanada for dinner.

We went to the Centro Cultural Recoleta and saw the Borges travel photos and an exhibit about disappeared people that wasn’t really effective and mostly just weird. It wasn’t just about the disappeared people in Argentina; it included a bunch of other countries as well. We met up with Steve, Shannon, Sandra and Amy. We hung out at Meagan’s for a little while and then left for the museums (without Shannon).

We first went to La Boca where the colectivo didn’t go quite as far as it appeared on the map, which meant we were walking around La Boca at 11PM. On any other night this would have been a terrible thing to do, but because it was noche de los museos, there were people everywhere. We went to three art museums (Teatro Rivera, la Quinquela, y Fundación Próa), one outdoor museum that we had been through before and the Boca museum (literally a blue and yellow museum in the stadium dedicated to the fútbol team and with Nike logos everywhere. After the museum is the gift shop which is also plastered with Nike logos and blue and yellow everywhere. The prices are very American and clearly the whole thing is set up for tourists.

After La Boca we got on another colectivo and went to Puerto Madero (the trendy/hip/new area of the city). Noche de los museos was having a final party there. We never made it to the party because we went to another museum instead. This one was a boat, which was really cool to walk around on (we ignored the exhibit and explored the boat). It was a fun night, but there were way too many of us and we should have left earlier to start going to museums. We were especially amazed at how organized the entire night was….we’re talking people in T-shirts everywhere (to answer ?s) and all the museums had the booklets with info about the night….it was pretty amazing…considering we’re in Argentina.

Sunday I woke up and did some more homework. That was pretty much all. I went to a café and used the internet…for quite a while. Rachel sent me an article from the NYTimes online that had a picture from Tufts. That was cool.

Monday, more homework!! Went to the Lincoln Library at ICANA (North American Cultural Center) which was an interesting experience. The library is basically the size of three tufts doubles put together, but has higher ceilings. Its very American in that almost all of the books are in English and they are arranged by the dewy decimal system and you can touch them!! (this does not happen at the national library where you have to order them and watch a TV screen to find out when they are brought upstairs for you). I was the only person under 30 there and for a while, the only female. It was 2-3 business men reading the New York times. People come in and out. Phones ring. Everyone has to walk up to the desk when the enter and ask the guy working how is he and whats new and so on and so forth. They didn’t actually have half the books my teacher told to use there, which goes to show that even though the library is very American and the class is history of America, the teacher is still very Argentine. All in all, it was a fine experience; I got some sources for my paper. Then I went to COPA to use the internet and to actually finish my paper – the library didn’t have outlets and my computer does need power, occasionally- they don’t really believe in putting outlets everywhere here…its nearly impossible to find any in cafes that have wifi also. I had a tutor read my paper and it was like being 12 again with tons of little mistakes… then I went home and had dinner with my host mom. Apparently, the news paper said that Argentina is the country that eats the most beef (which is pretty much common knowledge around the world), but I can’t actually remember the last time I had beef. I think it was last Wednesday or Thursday. She’s telling me this as we eat our corn tort (corn, egg, pepper and onion inside a pastry shell). We rarely eat meat and the people I’ve talked to in my program said the same thing about their host families. Frankly, I think Argentines eat more ham than meat. They will put ham on everything, including hamburgers and pizza….and I’m not just talking about the occasional hamburger or pizza, its common to see ham on these items.

Tuesday was yet another day of homework…. This time for my art history take home midterm which is 10 pages long…I don’t really think this fits the category of midterm…but whatever. It is also our ONLY grade for this class. I got bored around mid-afternoon and went for a walk in the neighborhood. I went to the grocery store which is apparently under constructions and nightmarishly slippery (or slippy as the Aussies we met at Iguazú would say). Then I check my email and saw that my advisor had FINALLY emailed me telling me I could switch to Mendoza…she had been out of town for over a week. Then I returne home and realized I didn’t have the ganas (kind of like didn’t feel like it) to work….so I’m typing more of my blog….and now I’m going ot type some more….

This section is especially for Rachel and Steve (because they think they are Stacy and Clinton from what not to wear). This is a MAJOR what not to wear….it could actually encompass ½ of Buenos Aires because I have come to realize that Argentine fashion is an oxymoron. I don’t have to worry about spending money on clothing because I won’t be…. The Argentine “hip” girl look…as spotted yesterday: red high top converse (they are obsessed with the high top converse here…its kind of scary how obsessed), tied half way with the rest folded down. About four inches up the leg start the pants (the pants really are the entire badness of the look). Now, when these pants start they are skin tight for a good 6 inches (they’re basically yoga pant material). After those 6 inches they proceed to billow, yes billow, outward until they reach the waist where they are tight again. Now, you have to realize that Argentine girls don’t have thighs, but this look is still terrible. Most of the billowyness hangs around the knee (gravity comes into play on this one), which isn’t so terrible on the thigh part, however, it does make them look like pares with the round/wide part at their knees. [Rachel, I thought about buying you or me a pair (as a joke) and then realized you’d never speak to me again and that would just be sad]

Equally bad, but different Argentine look, as spotted on a colectivo (bus):
Somewhat orange (due to fake tanning) woman in her 60s. wearing all white…it is spring time here but still. The white was as follows: kitten heel mules (cute), nylons cut off mid calf (not cute), mini skirt with frills (very not cute) and lacoste polo (not objectionable). They are big on the nylons cut off mid calf and skirt here (I wear this in boston when I can’t handle wearing pants anymore during the winter). Its practically warm enough to not need this look, ever. Most of the time, I look at them and think, “oh sad honey, did you not look in the mirror before leaving the house today?”

Tuesday night I went out for ice cream at 10:30 and didn’t get home until after 1AM. Blythe and I just sat and talked about our schools and traveling and summer